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Jonathan Gass of Nomad Financial. Jonathan founded his company because he decided to focus his career on entrepreneurship and startups. His business works with startups to help them make smart financial plans and fundraising decisions. Today we\\u2019ll learn from him about what pitfalls to avoid in our own startups.

Famous Five:

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• Favorite Book? \\u2013 Give and Take
• What CEO do you follow? \\u2014 Johnny Rockefeller, of the book Titan
• Favorite online tool? \\u2014 Audible

• Do you get 8 hours of sleep? \\u2014 I try for 7 to 8.
• If you could let your 20 year old self know one thing, what would it be? \\u2013 Listen to your gut when you are making decisions. Focus on culture.

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Time Stamped Show Notes:

• 01:35 \\u2013 Nathan introduces Jonathan
• 02:10 \\u2013 His main focus is entrepreneurship
• 02:25 \\u2013 He saw the same problems with most startup founders
• • 02:50 \\u2013 They weren\\u2019t setting up their accounting systems to support decision making
• 03:10 \\u2013 He worked for Vimeo a few years ago
• • 03:25 \\u2013 They had to pitch what set them apart from YouTube and other companies
  • 03:55 \\u2013 Building tools to support video makers
• 04:10 \\u2013 Nomad Financial generates revenue for a number of services, paid for by the hour.
• 04:30 \\u2013 Their employees specialize in helping startups
• • 05:25 \\u2013 A role as an advocate
  • 05:45 \\u2013 Pushback from auditors
  • 06:00 \\u2013 Staying on top of trends
• 06:20 \\u2013 What is a 409a valuation?
• • 06:58 \\u2013 Startups mix that up with a valuation for selling stock.
• 07:30 \\u2013 Mistakes early entrepreneurs make with cap tables
• • 07:40 \\u2013 No consistent terms
  • 08:15 \\u2013 Even the software can\\u2019t always solve those problems
  • 09:00 \\u2013 Understanding the implications of sale
  • 09:15 \\u2013 One man who had an option to sell his company, but wasn\\u2019t really going to make any money
  • 10:10 \\u2013 Nathan\\u2019s interview with Teachable (Episode 117)
• 11:00 \\u2013 Explaining preferred shareholders
• • 11:35 \\u2013 Investors that ask for really aggressive terms
  • 12:00 \\u2013 Be careful with the terms in your agreement
• 12:35 \\u2013 Smart money vs. \\u201cplain dollars\\u201d
• • 12:55 \\u2013 People who are there to actually help the business
  • 13:25 \\u2013 Understanding the goals of your investors
  • 14:50 \\u2013 The importance of a fit culture and a fit vision
• 14:40 \\u2013 The friendliest investor for the entrepreneur
• • 15:00 -- Great term sheets, and providing great value
• 15:15 \\u2013 Interplay investors
• • 16:10 \\u2013 Jonathan is making about 4 or 5 investments each year.
  • 16:35 \\u2013 Seed-stage and a-round investments
• 17:00 \\u2013 Why put a portion of your portfolio into startups?
• • 17:20 \\u2013 You keep that portion for that, and you use the other portion for other things.
  • 17:45 \\u2013 Living for entrepreneurship and believing in these startups.
• 19:00 \\u2013 Connect with Jonathan at j@nomadfinancial.com\\xa0 and nomadfinancial.com
• 20:45 \\u2013 The Famous Five

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3 Key Points:

• Set up your accounting to support decision making in your startup.
• Be aware of your investor\\u2019s goals and what value they will contribute to your company.
• You need a cohesive culture and vision, among founders and investors.

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Resources Mentioned:

• Host Gator \\u2013 The site Nathan uses to buy his domain names and hosting for cheapest price possible.
• Freshbooks - The site Nathan uses to manage his invoices and accounts.
• Leadpages\\xa0 \\u2013 The drag and drop tool Nathan uses to quickly create his webinar landing pages which convert at 35%+
• Audible \\u2013 Nathan uses Audible when he\'s driving from Austin to San Antonio (1.5 hour drive) to listen to audio books.
• Give and Take \\u2013 A business book that teaches philosophies Jonathan lives by
• Interplay \\u2013 A reliable team of investors and partners
• Toptal \\u2013 Great for people to get access to software developers
• Show Notes provided by Mallard Creatives

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